1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vibration absorbing track wheel. More particularly, the invention is concerned with a track wheel having several resonance absorbers which are composed of mass and damping material arranged on the wheel body. In particular, the resonance absorbers are associated with the wheel flange, the wheel tire or wheel rim, and are distributed over the periphery thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Attempts have been made to dampen the axial vibrations which are responsible for producing the screeching noise. One proposal is to use a ring composed of damping material which is attached to the wheel flange. The effect achieved thereby, however, was not satisfactory (German Offenlegungsschrift 1 605 065).
Further attempts have been made to dampen the noise by damping annular bodies or annular body parts, which are set in annular grooves in the wheel flange. These annular body parts are composed of individual small plates, ring sections or ring discs and are coated with highly viscous, lubricant-type material on their contact surfaces. This attempt has not been successful in practice.
Another attempt to dampen the noise proposes the use of resonance absorbers with the track wheel of the aforementioned type. These resonance absorbers are secured to the wheel disc in the proximity of the wheel flange. Each resonance absorber comprises a cylindrical rubber bumper with two metal discs molded onto the front surface thereof with let-in screwbolts. However, it was shown in practice that after a relatively short period of operation of one year that the damping efficiency dropped substantially with the vibration absorbing track wheel of the aforedescribed type. For this reason, such a vibration absorbing track wheel has not been successful in practice (VDI Journal, Vol. 96, No. 6, 21.2.1954, pages 171-175).
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a resonance absorber for track wheels to absorb more effectively those vibrations which arise at the wheel and, above all, for a longer period of time.